‘Occupy’ protests reach Ames with ‘Occupy ISU’

AMES, Ia. — Student debt and corporate influence were topics of concern for about 200 Iowa State University students and faculty and other Ames residents who gathered on Iowa State’s central campus to participate in an “Occupy ISU” event this afternoon.

The gathering was touted by many participants as a “beginning” for a movement in Ames to address inequality, and a way to show solidarity with the protests of Wall Street excesses that started in New York in September and have since spread across the country.

“I think people are considering this to be a white Americans’ issue, but this is a people’s issue,” said Lissa Place, a graduate student in educational leadership and policy studies. “This is about black people, black women. It’s about working people. It’s about those that have a voice, and those that don’t have a voice.”

Place said that now is the time for Iowans to stand in solidarity with people everywhere and to overcome the perception that people in rural communities and small towns are not engaged in the political movements occurring throughout the country. Place and Kathleen Gillon, also a graduate student in educational leadership and policy studies, wore cardboard boxes scrawled with messages including, “My student debt is boxing me in,” and “We are the 99%.”

Kathleen Gillon and Lissa Place, both graduate students at Iowa State, protest at the 'Occupy ISU' event in Ames on Thursday, Oct. 13. (The Register/Jessica Opoien)

Occupy ISU began with a gathering underneath the Campanile, during which people were invited to speak using the “People’s Mic.” In lieu of electronic amplification, participants relied on coordinated call-and-response repetition to make sure anyone who spoke had their message heard by the group. Students, professors and Ames residents stood in the center of the circle to voice their reasons for joining the group.

“I currently have earned a degree, but do not own my degree,” Gillon said, echoing the sentiments of many students who spoke to the group. Several students shared stories of working multiple jobs while maintaining a full course load, struggling to pay tuition and rent.

“I hope that we will see our politicians begin to listen to us, and not the corporations that are driving them with their fundraising,” said Clayton Ender, a senior in community and regional planning. “There’s a lot of people out here that want to see education affordable. I really hope that they begin to listen and realize that they need to pay attention to us.”

Clayton Ender, a senior at Iowa State, speaks underneath the Campanile at the 'Occupy ISU' protest in Ames on Thursday, Oct. 13. (The Register/Jessica Opoien)

Ender wasn’t the only student whose grievances included feeling ignored by elected officials. Mike Cook, a senior in history who carried a sign that read, “I can’t afford a lobbyist, so I made this sign,” joined Occupy ISU as a last resort. He said that he usually tries to make things happen through “less abrasive measures” than street marches, but that marching is what it will take to accomplish something in this case.

“As someone who has written more letters to his congressman in a week than most people do in a year, I totally know, they ignore you. Unless you can show them that you have the numbers to affect their vote, they won’t listen,” Cook said.

Neil Boyes, a staff member at Iowa State, said he hoped events like this would send a message to the government and corporations that people are fed up with the current system. He believes that corporate influence in government is responsible for shrinking opportunities in health care, education and long-term employment.

“We have a nation run by corporations, and the corporations aren’t really doing anything to give the people a livelihood,” said Gina Folsom, a graduate student in sociology.

Nicole Rains, a senior in environmental science, expressed concerns with corporate influence in the university, as well. She said she thinks companies like Monsanto have too much influence in the College of Agriculture.

“I hope that maybe Iowa State University will look at where it gets its funding and offer options for students who have a moral and social conscience,” Rains said.

The group went mobile about 90 minutes into the protest, marching off campus along Lincoln Way, then snaking its way toward the “free speech zone” in front of Parks Library. The group elicited mixed reactions from other students on campus. Some gave thumbs-ups and fist-pumps, while others shouted comments including, “Get a (expletive) job, you hippies,” and “What are you, a bunch of socialists?”

“I’m here to conjure the spirit of Abbie Hoffman,” Robert Manatt, a senior in forestry, shouted to the circle in the free speech zone. Manatt said he sees a lot of parallels between the Occupy initiative and the social and political movements of the 1960s.

“When a democratic population becomes apathetic and chooses not to participate, for whatever reason, they’re choosing to create failure of democracy,” Manatt said.

Place agreed that students have the power to drive political and social change.

“Students today do care,” Place said. “It’s a matter of having an issue that we can all get around and mobilize with, to really stand up and say, ‘This is what we believe.’ I think students are an incredibly important component and aspect of movement, like they have been in all other movements.”

With every change of location, Occupy ISU lost and picked up a few more members. Down to about 90 people, the group lined both sides of Lincoln Way after leaving the free speech zone. At this point, there was some confusion regarding where the group should march next. While one student greeted Occupy ISU’s presence on Lincoln Way by yelling, “Go to class,” a CyRide bus driver honked and gave a thumbs-up as she passed the group.

Students march along Lincoln Way in front of Friley Hall at Iowa State on Thursday, Oct. 13 for the 'Occupy ISU' event. (The Register/Jessica Opoien)

As the group’s numbers began to dwindle, Occupy ISU returned to Central Campus to discuss plans for future assemblies and marches.

Angie Carter, a graduate student in sociology, was encouraged by the turnout for the event — both in numbers and in diversity of participants.

“We’ve heard everything from local issues, like free speech zones on campus and corporate money … to city concerns about CyRide, to state concerns and national concerns,” Carter said. “There have been all levels of concern. I think the overarching theme is that people feel angry about the power that we feel oppressing our rights. That’s corporate greed and power — not that people shouldn’t be allowed to make money and have profit, but they should do so reasonably, not with oppressing other people.”